Free to Play: Why it’s Better for Developers to Give Away Their Games

"The proliferation of mobile apps continue to change how we interact and utilize technology in every day lives. Not only that, but the new abundance of free and freemium games challenges the traditional big studio approach to gaming pre-smartphone technology. Developers are coming to realize that giving away their games for free increases their chances of attracting more players (and more cash). Here are five benefits for developers who release their games for free." -BootHammer

[kraideral]

Free to play has always been a double edged sword. In one hand they free and in the other they are not really. I hate the bullshit energy bars or time limits, but I don't really care that much in mobile games which are designed to be played in small chunks. But imagine if Titanfall or any other multiplayer game had a numbered time of respawns...that would be awful. Sure there are games that do F2P right like Planetside 2, but I think we are way off from a large F2P market

[Benjaminkno]

I like the term "free to start".

No game is free.

[LexHazard79]

Lol.. I just had to dude.

If you get it "Free" and "Play" it...then yeah its Free to Play. Lol..

[Benjaminkno]

My point is that somebody spent a lot of time typing the program that you're playing for free.

And time is money, so... "lol"

[rayzorn]

i went thru path of exile two times and never put a cent into it. nothing you do in that game you need to pay for. its all cosmetic.

alot of people say its better then diablo 3. cant speak for that since i bought diablo 3 on launch and still havent even played it yet. all my friends where playing poe so i never got around to it yet.

[BootHammer]

Great points guys. It's definitely a gamble but some do really well under this market where others make the "free" versions way too restrictive as Kraideral mentioned.

[Revvin]

F2P often translates to P2W - Pay to Win, if you're not careful you can end up paying many more times over the price of a game priced at the normal rate either in the App Store or retail.

[BootHammer]

P2W...LOL, I'm sure that happens a lot. Some people really get addicted to some of these more casual games and lose sight of how much money they spend on them. Another great point!

[LexHazard79]

Yeah, F2P microtransactions is outrageous! Take for instance Temple Run! It free to play but characters would cost you $20 or more,a costume would cost you the same! You would pay well over $200 easy to unlock all items for that game!

[N4GJD]

There is nothing good about the Free-to-Play business model, period!

[HumanatPlay]

Very true, F2P model bares a strong resemblance to casino business models. As you play it becomes harder and harder for you to win and so the ego kicks in and before you know it you've gone way over retail price. Don't let this gambling business model fool you into spending more money than you should.

[Beastforlifenoob]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/rap...

this is what it costs to play the average "F2P"

[NeoTribe]

Free to play games end up costing more than a new retail game with all the bs micro transactions. Most free to play gamez make it damn near impossible to progress without inserting bills.

[ElementX]

I've played The Secret World and Guild Wars 2, both are free to play and they do it right, however I don't see any games besides online shooters and MMOs relying on the F2P model.

[LexHazard79]

I like that some devs going with F2P games also have entire game for retail as well. DriveClub, Killer Instincts come to mind right now and im pretty sure others will follow. Im getting retail DriveClub!

[Agent_hitman]

My thoughts as well. Developers should give away their games for free and have micro-transactions instead if they want to generate revenue just like other publishers are doing these days for their MMO games..

Players/gamers are likely to embrace the game if they given a chance to play it for free and if they liked it, they will spend money for additional stuff regarding the IP..

And of course they will earn big bucks on ADS revenue, look at Dong Nguyen of "Flappy Birds" he earns a big bucks of cash by Ads, generating 50k a day!!!!!!!! wow!